Living on the anchor

Not at the dock anymore!

Since we left Trinidad and arrived in Grenada we are living on the anchor. Living on the anchor is a whole different thing than just living aboard in the marina. Marina’s are like mini aquarium’s where you have everything you need just like the fish that gets fed and oxygen in the aquarium. Energy, water, crossing to land, dock lines, everything is provided to you. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a big step but the real cruising life begins living at anchorage.

The freedom of the anchor

At the anchor the wind reminds us the freedom that we own. The nature now sings a stronger rhythm and it’s now impossible not to hear it and observe it. World consciousness expands. Life is definitely different in all levels. Out of the system, into the real pure world of living. Drop the anchor anywhere in the ocean and live life to the fullest and as raw as possible. We feel how small we are in this world and how sensitive to nature’s change our life is. Observe and study the weather, the currents, the swells. Learn how to react upon each change in the nature.

Think about things we didn’t care too much before.

At anchor, we also have to think about things we didn’t care too much before. So many things we took for granted are now something we are very conscious of and very grateful for having access:

1.Want to take the trash to the trash bin? Get the dinghy, inflate it ( in our case since it deinflate every hour), put gas on, get the life vest for the kids, close all the hatches so if it rains the things won’t get wet, put the kids in the dinghy ( be prepared here for some acrobatics here if you have a baby younger that 4 year old), go slowly ( in our case with our 2hp outboard), try to find a place where you do not pay for taking the trash and eventually not finding it and paying. Yeah, it’s a journey. And Yes, some places charge you to take your trash in, so you start rethinking and having a new consciousness about the trash you produce: organic, non-organic, how to store it and manage it. Water, something most people take for granted is our treasure.

2. Need more water? Pull the anchor, sail to the next water pump in a marina, park the boat (challenging), pay for the water, fill the tanks and go, anchor again, it all could take up like 3-4 hours in our case.

3.Electricity is something interesting and enthusiastic. How many amperes this uses, how much energy we are producing, will our sustainable fonts be enough? Can I let this light on or will we be out of battery? These are worries we have all the time.

4. The anchor itself. Getting a nice anchorage in wherever you decide to stay will certainly allow some good night of sleep, otherwise be prepared to wake up every hour to check if you are still in the same place or if you are dragging ( or worse, if someone is dragging into you) into someone.

5.Value our food. Some cases we need to go 15 minutes in the dinghy, take a bus or walk 30 minutes to get to the nearest place to buy food. Things are expensive and you learn to appreciate all that you have and don’t waste anything.

Living at anchor make us feel alive, strong and full of gratitude. We have a destination but It’s the journey, the learnings that make us so rich.

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Pictures bellow are from our anchorage in St. Georges.